I’m gonna let you in on a secret that I learned over 25 years ago, when I was cutting my teeth as a personal trainer and (desperately) trying to “look the part,” when we all used to worry about that kind of thing. 😉
Back in those days I ALWAYS struggled with food around the Holidays, and as a result would enter the New Year feeling more chunky than fit.
Yes, even me. Despite setting up silly food-rules and self-imposed guidelines (more like guardrails) to keep me from eating my bodyweight in baking, I would still wake up on New Year’s Day at least 10 pounds heavier than I was just a month prior.
Now it wasn’t some deep-seeded physiological or psychological mystery that required “unpacking.”
I simply had a lot of friends & social events, and I loved to eat, and I told myself that I didn’t care because I was a young dude and “I’d burn the added fat off in January.”
Except that’s not entirely honest.
It DID bother me.
I didn’t like spending the first 6-8 weeks of the New Year on a strict diet & cardio regime.
It would’ve been MUCH more productive to spend January & February at or above maintenance calories, pumping iron in the gym and then resting on the couch. Not “dieting off” a month’s worth of dumb dietary decisions.
I also didn’t like making myself play a stupid game and then losing, by trying to stick to “one cheat meal a week” and then slipping up seemingly every single day.
At times I’d get so mad at myself I’d go off and binge on the very treats I’d sworn to avoid.
Finally, let’s not lose sight of the fact that eating & drinking with friends & family is supposed to be one of life’s PLEASURES. Talk about cognitive dissonance.
Then, one year I decided to play the holiday game to win.
December 1st I would take out a calendar and put a red X thru Dec 24th, 25th, Dec 31st, January 1st.
On these days I would not think about food, period. The only plan would be to eat & drink what I wanted and not think about a damn thing.
Next, I would put a single red line through any days where I had a holiday party or work function to attend. (There was always at least three I knew of in advance, usually starting mid month).
For those events I would plan to eat & drink whatever I want for that ONE MEAL or EVENING. No other mental gymnastics.
Last, I would allow myself one “wildcard” meal per week: for when a client would drop off pizza at the gym (it happened) or a lonely woman would show up at my door demanding to take me out for food & holiday shenanigans (never happened).
Now here’s the key: the rest of the month I dieted HARD, but simple.
By that I mean I kept my calories LOW but my protein HIGH… and that’s about it.
So usually 200-250g of protein, spaced throughout the day, plus a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and a piece or two of fruit throughout the day.
In total maybe 1600-1800 calories a day. That was the base. Then the pre-planned treat meals & days.
I could’ve made it more complicated but I didn’t want to overthink or over-plan things any more, mainly because the chaos of the holidays would only sabotage my efforts, which in turn would erode my confidence.
The result?
It worked ridiculously well. Here’s why:
The first two weeks of December were usually uneventful, so basically low cal & treat-free, which served to “smarten me up” by re-igniting good dieting habits. So by mid December I’d often have dropped over 5-7 pounds of fluff.
Then by the final two weeks of December, when the high calorie days really kick in, I was now in a sharp dieting head-space and had much more restraint. I saw the extra food as part of predetermined plan, like diet re-feeds, as opposed to just random indulgence.
That may sound insignificant but it was the difference between a few hundred extra calories and a few THOUSAND extra calories per day.
So let’s wrap up this holiday yarn: what was the end result?
I would regularly wake up January 1st at the same bodyweight & waist size as I was December 1st, though some years a little lighter & leaner.
This meant jumping right back into productive hard training & healthy eating for winter physique improvements, as opposed to restrictive dieting and hours wasted on a treadmill.
And all it required was a change of attitude, a little planning, and just a little restraint.
The big takeaway is that if you want to get lean in 2025 then you REALLY need to consider starting today, and January 1st.
Don’t wait until New Years Day. Getting lean in 2025 starts TODAY.
– Coach Bryan